Summary of the Nevada "None of the Above" Statue as prepared by
Voters for None of the Above

Summary: Nevada "None of the Above"
Statue

Status:

Nevada enacted America's first
Voter Consent Law in 1976, and it remains in effect today.

Abstract:

The statue establishes a permanent, non binding "None of
these candidates" ballot option for all state wide offices. For each of these
offices, after the list of candidates, appears the ballot line "None of these
candidates". Voters may vote either for a candidate or for "None of these
candidates", but not both. The candidate with the most votes is elected no matter how
many votes are cast for "None of these candidates".

Text:

Nevada "None of the Above" Statute

Nevada Revised Statutes

Title 24. Elections.

Chapter 293. Elections Ballots.

293.269 Ballots for statewide offices or President and
Vice President must permit voter to register opposition to all
candidates.

Every ballot upon which appears the names of
candidates for any statewide office or for President and Vice
President of the United States shall contain for each office an
additional line equivalent to the lines on which the candidates' names
appear and placed at the end of the group of lines containing the
names of the candidates for that office. Each additional line shall
contain a square in which the voter may express his choice of that
line in the same manner as he would express his choice of a candidate,
and the line shall read "None of these candidates."

Only votes cast for the named candidates shall be
counted in determining nomination or election to any statewide office
or presidential nominations or the selection of presidential electors,
but for each office the number of ballots on which the additional line
was chosen shall be listed following the names of the candidates and
the number of their votes in every posting, abstract and proclamation
of the results of the election.

Every sample ballot or other instruction to voters
prescribed or approved by the secretary of state shall clearly explain
that the voter may mark his choice of the line "None of these
candidates" only if he has not voted for any candidate for the office.

Last updated February 5, 1997

Analysis:

The statue implements a non-binding NOTA with the provision that
the voter must not vote for a candidate in order to vote for the "None of these
candidates".

Nevada's NOTA is a non-binding NOTA, where the candidate
with the most votes is elected no matter what the NOTA vote, so voting for non-binding
NOTA is basically an expression of sentiment which does not determine election to office.
The voter must give up a binding vote for a candidate in order to vote for a non binding
NOTA.

Recommendations:

We recommend that a voter be allowed vote for a candidate as well
as vote for a non-binding NOTA as a expression of sentiment by the voters; and, a
non-binding NOTA Voter Consent law should apply to all elective offices, including
President and Vice-President. Or, if implementing a binding NOTA, we recommend that a
voter must give up a vote for a candidate to vote for a binding NOTA, and that a binding
NOTA Voter Consent law should apply to all elective offices, except for the offices of
President and Vice-President, where there should be a non-binding NOTA, because election
to these offices is controlled in their particulars by the
U.S. Constitution.